I have been on an oat kick recently, which is kinda unlike me. I’m no longer a cereal person, and oatmeal leaves me cold most of the time (unless you make it into Apricot Walnut Bars). Give me an egg or a burrito for breakfast any day!
My dad is something of the Breakfast King (just as my mom is the Queen of Soup). I came across Joy the Baker’s wonderful Oatmeal Cookie Granola recipe right before they visited, and since granola and oatmeal cookies are just about his two favorite things, I couldn’t resist making it. It is truly good enough to eat with your hands.
I followed her recipe exactly, except that you have to really watch the cooking time. My oven runs hot, so I burned the first batch and almost cried. It was still edible but not picture-worthy or Dad-worthy. So when I made batch 2, I turned the heat down to 300 and baked it for only 15 minutes at my husband’s suggestion. It turned out gorgeously golden brown and nice and crunchy. So the first time you make this recipe (it won’t be the last), really keep an eye on it.
Hop on over to Joy the Baker’s site to get this amazing recipe.
As if that weren’t enough, my friend Jacqui told me all about this amazing way she had found to fix an on-the-go breakfast that was little more than oats and yogurt. The secret ingredient that sparked my interest? Chia seeds. I’m always looking for ways to get superfoods into something other than a smoothie, and this takes advantage of the chia’s thickening properties to make an absolutely delicious kind of oatmeal pudding for breakfast.
I mixed it up in wide-mouth mason jars, which left plenty of room, but you could also use any cereal-sized bowl with a cover.
Because I’m cool like that, I tested the recipe with four different kinds of yogurt and two different kinds of milk:
- vanilla yogurt with milk
- plain yogurt with milk, vanilla, and maple syrup
- vanilla coconut yogurt with coconut milk
- vanilla almond yogurt with coconut milk
They all worked great, so you can make this breakfast totally vegan if that floats your boat. However, both almond and coconut yogurts have a lot of additives and fillers to make them thicker, so keep that in mind if you’re looking for a “healthier” alternative. Organic whole-milk yogurt is definitely your best bet
Both dairy yogurts were full fat (12–14 grams/serving), while the coconut and almond yogurts were lower fat (6 g and 3 g per serving, respectively), so fat content didn’t seem to make a difference (and the coconut milk probably helped).
My favorite taste-wise was the plain yogurt with added vanilla (1 tsp) and maple syrup (2 Tbsp per serving), followed closely by the almond yogurt. However, because of the additives in the almond yogurt, my recommendation is to just add a little almond flavoring to regular yogurt.
This is one of those recipes you can play around with—both walnuts and pecans worked great, but you could also use hemp seed or almonds. And for some reason dried pineapple seems to be verrrry interested in partnering up with this recipe.
Overnight Oatmeal Muesli
Ingredients
- 1 cup oats
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 2 Tbsp coconut flakes
- 2 Tbsp chia seeds
- 1 cup milk
- 2 6- oz. containers 1 cup vanilla yogurt
- strawberries
Instructions
- In each of two containers, mix 1/2 cup oats, 1/4 cup walnuts, 1 Tbsp coconut flakes, 1 Tbsp chia seeds, 1/2 cup milk or coconut milk, and 1 container vanilla yogurt. Refrigerate overnight. Chop strawberries and add before serving.